Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's longtime personal attorney, testifies before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform on Feb. 27, 2019 in Washington. Jack Gruber, USAT

Cohen acknowledged his past criminal conduct, and claimed that his testimony represented a clean break from his boss, whose actions Cohen described as akin to those of a mob boss.

his story will be updated as the hearing continues

WASHINGTON – Michael Cohen delivered a blistering account of his dealings as President Donald Trump's longtime attorney Wednesday, casting his former boss as "a con man" and "racist' while tying the White House more directly than ever to multiple investigations that have shadowed Trump's presidency.

Reading from a written statement to a House committee, Cohen asserted that Trump knew in advance that WikiLeaks planned to release stolen emails damaging to political rival Hillary Clinton. "Wouldn't that be great," he said Trump replied.

Cohen told the panel that Trump personally reimbursed Cohen for an illegal hush-money payment to a porn star; and that the president indirectly encouraged him to lie to Congress about his pursuit of a potentially lucrative Trump Tower development in Moscow, even as Trump repeatedly denied any business interests in Russia throughout the 2016 campaign.

"Mr. Trump did not directly tell me to lie to Congress," Cohen said. "That's not how he operates. "He would look me in the eye and tell me there's no business in Russia and then go out and lie to the American people by saying the same thing. In his way he was telling me to lie about it."